Do you like this new formatting/CSS?
This post is mostly about the increased complexity that comes with using AI to learn programming. AI has a lot of benefits, but it also creates new distractions. Even in this project, I keep wondering how far I should go down a rabbit hole versus when I should just get something working. When I hit a real hiccup, the temptation to let AI take care of everything is strong.
AI opens the door to learning many more subjects and ideas, which makes choice more important than ever. The question becomes less about whether I can explore a topic, and more about whether I should spend time on it.
That feels a little like the difference between doing data science work in C and Python. Yes, C is faster and gives you low-level control, but it also takes much longer to use for this kind of work. Python lets you do more data science sooner, but that extra speed comes with more choices about what to research, build, and ignore. Increased abstraction does not just create efficiency gains; it also creates more decisions.
So far, AI has not magically changed productivity in terms of learning. I still need to decide what to build, keep the scope manageable, and avoid getting pulled into too many tangents. There were always too many things to learn, and now there are even more options.
That tension is the story I want to follow here: AI expands what is possible, but it also increases the cost of choosing where to focus.